


Under The Skin

by Davechicken



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Fox!Hux, M/M, Shapeshifting
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-04
Updated: 2017-05-14
Packaged: 2018-09-06 13:05:53
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 8,493
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8752702
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Davechicken/pseuds/Davechicken
Summary: Brendol Hux was once enchanted, and his son is the price he paid.





	1. Chapter 1

Brendol thought the woman was the same as any other. Enchanting, certainly. Incredibly attractive. Something almost drunk about her, where she intoxicated the world, instead of the other way around.

When he found out she held a skin inside her closet and slipped from one shape to another at nights, he was horrified. The enchantment was broken, and he left the skinwalker in disgust. She wasn’t _pure_ , wasn’t ‘real’.

Nine months later, a basket appears. A small babe, wrapped in furs, smiling and cheery. Gurgling, bubbles from the lips, and grabby little hands that he can’t see as anything but paws.

He forces the thing into a wench’s arms. Tells her he’ll provide for her, if she raises the thing. 

Hux doesn’t know about his heritage for years. His surrogate hides it from him, though he always feels… ill at ease in his own skin. An itch, an ache. He puts it down to being an unwanted bastard, and it’s not until his ‘mother’ dies that he finds the fur. 

The first change horrifies him, and he nearly burns the fox-fur when he changes back. He’s a _monster_. He’s not the Human he thought he was, and Brendol Hux won’t talk to him to explain it. Hux is pushed off to study, now he has nothing else in his life. The fur in his footlocker calls to him, but he buries it under his uniform and pretends it isn’t there.

(He shifts, when the call gets too much. When being around people is too much. He hides in dark places and turns around three times and puts his tail in his mouth. His ears flatten, and he longs for open fields and the moon. He dreams of running water and the smell of mulch and trees.)

Why didn’t she tell him, he wonders, never knowing it was not her secret to tell. He mourns her passing every year, but a flicker inside tells him something is off, something is wrong.

When his birth mother comes to see him, on the edges of the snow, he sees her green eyes and a flash of russet-white. He resists her call for three days, but on the fourth he follows her into the woods.

The cold hurts his paws, and bites at his nose. He feels so _alive_ , and he doesn’t know how to deal with this. They never talk, but he wonders if she’s on the base, somewhere. If she’s in the Order like him, or if she hides herself behind large ears and green eyes until he has time to run with her.

He tells no one, but he suspects Kylo knows he’s different, all the same.


	2. Chapter 2

After they lose the planet, the weapon… they’re in space for way too long. Hux gets antsy, but he can’t say anything. The Leader has him assigned to deep space tasks, and he isn’t able to ‘scout’ out replacements for the new weapon. 

Kylo is too absorbed in his own recovery and brooding to notice Hux getting snappy and irate for weeks. Their relationship becomes increasingly estranged, until one day Hux just - he _snaps_.

“Not _everything_ is about you!”  


“What the fuck is wrong with you?”  


“Nothing!”  


“If that was the case, you wouldn’t be such a grumpy little–”  


“I can’t. I just can’t,” Hux says, and tries to leave. The hand around his wrist makes him feel trapped even more, and his eyes glow green in anger.  


“…what?” Kylo lets go, and Hux thinks _oh shit._  


“I just need some air…”  


***

He needs air, but there is none on the ship. His body is aching, bursting at the seams. There’s so much _run_ in his legs, and nowhere to put it. He–

–turns the corner and sees Kylo, holding that intimate thing. He snatches it from him, hurt and betrayed. “That’s not for you.”

“I always thought you felt different,” Kylo says. “Is it… do you need to change?”  


Why isn’t he laughing, or mocking, or insulting? Why does he look at him with _pity_?

Hux nods.

“Want to commandeer my shuttle for a few hours? Go somewhere distant, get… some air? I’ll guard the ship.”  


“Why?” Hux asks.  


“I understand what it’s like, being trapped inside a mask.” Kylo shrugs. “Let me help you.”  


***

Hux is almost chewing his fingers off as they fly to a small moon with green grass and low population density. He’s stroking his fox-fur over and over, bouncing like he’s caf-poisoned. Kylo is smart enough not to ask questions, and he bolts the minute they land. 

Clothes off. Fur on. The world flickers into focus. Sharp smells and movement sounds. He runs until his sides ache, and he’s exhausted on all four legs as he crouches just behind the treeline.

Whips one face off, and puts another on.

They fly back, and Kylo doesn’t ask another thing.

***

Hux isn’t sure why Kylo doesn’t ask questions. He suggests the trips, or Hux pulls out his fur, and they vanish for a few hours. It’s almost enough, or enough to keep the howling in his mind at bay. He stares up at the stars for answers, wondering why this one didn’t act like his father had to his mother. 

He knows, somehow, that Brendol left her. He knows, too, that his mother left _him_. It’s what happens to Hux, but Kylo hasn’t gone.

“You… can ask me things,” he says, on the flight back home.  


“Do you still think the same, when you shift?”  


“I believe so. It’s a little more instinctual, but I have my memories, and most of my faculties.”  


“Could you get stuck? Either way?”  


“I don’t know.”  


“Could you live as just one, or do you need to shift?”  


“It’s… I’m normally… Human. But too long and I get uncomfortable.” More so, of late. But that’s likely nerves.  


Kylo nods. “Kind of cool, don’t you think?”

Hux has never thought that. Not once.

***

The next time he returns, he carries his clothes in his mouth. Stops, tail low, ears flattened. He doesn’t like how small and vulnerable he feels, but he needs Kylo to understand _what_ he’s okay with. _What_ he is. 

Another long swish, swiping his hindlegs with his brush, and Kylo’s eyes widen.

“Oh Force, you’re stunning,” Kylo says, his eyes sliding over Hux’s form. “Can… can I touch you?”  


Hux sits, pulling his tail around his paws, settling erect and swallowing his unease. He nods, when Kylo doesn’t move, and a hand settles on his scalp.

It’s odd, at first. Warm and heavy, but then fingers stroke behind his ears and something sort of clicks. The white tip to his tail flicks, and the strokes slide down his spine. It’s nice, like a massage, and he lets Kylo do it until they both think it’s time to stop. 

Hux cocks his head, and Kylo turns respectfully as he changes back.

The conversation in the cockpit does not refer to what just happened, not at all.

***

Sometimes, they can’t get away when Hux needs it. He changes in their rooms instead, hares around a few times, and then plops himself onto Kylo. He’ll either settle on his lap and chirr until he’s stroked, or he’ll lie over his torso on the bed and they’ll cuddle for a while. 

Not running isn’t quite good enough, but the comforting touches help a bit. Hux falls asleep fox, and wakes Human. He isn’t sure how, but he’s fine with it.

Kylo asks, once, if he can run with him.

Curious, the shifted Hux looks up. Can he keep up? Even with the Force? 

Only one way to find out. He turns without warning, bounding for the horizon. His paws know the earth, and his muzzle smells victory close by. The Knight leaps and springs against tree-trunks, and Hux throws back his head to yip his excitement to the stars.

Kylo doesn’t run _away_ , so neither does he. 


	3. Chapter 3

Hux sees Kylo staring at the fur skin, right as he’s about to put it away. It had been one of those nights that he’d needed the simpler mindset and the brighter stimulus of his other self. Needle-sharp teeth gnawing on Kylo’s gloved hand, and the sensation of the other stroking down his spine and rubbing in all the right places. Behind his ears, behind his jaw, over his flanks and just before his brush. 

Kylo hasn’t asked all that many questions, though Hux is sure he has them. They hang, unasked (and therefore unanswered), floating between them.

“I didn’t know I was - well - fostered until my ‘mother’ died,” he says, and doesn’t put the skin away just yet.   


It’s soft, and still warm from him wearing it. 

“Do you know why she fostered you?”  


“No. I suspect it was my father’s decision. He hated me intensely, probably because I wasn’t ‘pure’.”  


“So it was your mother you… I guess you inherited it from her?”  


Hux nods, and holds out the stole for Kylo to examine properly. 

“I didn’t have this until my foster mother died, so I couldn’t… I just thought I was ‘normal’. She’d hidden it from me, and when her worldly effects passed to me, this was one of them. I had absolutely no idea what it was, and when I changed…”  


“It must have been terrifying,” Kylo says, sounding sorrowful.   


“It wasn’t wonderful, that’s for sure. I… tried to ignore the call for as long as possible, but it would become uncomfortable if I left it too long between… shifts.” He’s never said this aloud. Not ever, and he’s been abusing Kylo’s patience for months on end.   


“How do you do it? Change, I mean?”  


“I don’t know, to be honest. I hold the skin, and it happens sort of on instinct. And when I change back, it’s because I’ve wanted to. And then it just… sort of happens.”  


“Has anyone else ever used it to change?”  


“…I… no?”  


“Do you think they could? I mean, do you even show up differently on the scans? It could be that it’s the skin…?”  


Hux cocks his head in thought. “You could try putting it over your shoulders like I do. See if it does anything?”

Kylo does, and then just stands, holding an empty skin around his shoulders. They smile, and then Kylo hands it back to him. “I guess I’m not meant to change.”

“You should be grateful. It can be… distressing to be prevented from it.”  


“How does that feel? I mean, when you’re not able to shift?”  


How indeed. Hux has to pick through the sensations in his memory, fighting back through the latest, vulpine ones. “Like… a restlessness in every limb. Legs that need to run, like you’re anxious something big and bad is right behind you. Like… you’re sure you can smell fire, and you know you have to get as far away as possible.”

“What’s it like when you are shifted?”  


“It’s… things are more immediate. Brighter. It’s very… loud. I…” Hux shoves the footlocker closed. “It’s foolish.”  


“It’s part of you.”   


Hux looks up to see Kylo staring at him with compassion, and… love? “I’d rather it wasn’t.”

“Why?”  


“Why? What possible advantage do I have in needing to drop to all fours on a regular basis, and yowl at the sky?” A question he has asked himself many, many times.  


“You enjoy it. And it lets you… I don’t know. Don’t you enjoy it?”  


Hux isn’t sure. He stares at the closed box, his tongue peeking past his lips. “I never really let myself, I suppose. Except when I was with her. It was always something… _wrong_.”

Kylo grabs his hands, and kisses his forehead. “It’s you. And you’re beautiful, you know. In both forms. You feel so alive to me, when you let go…”

Hux shudders. “But I’m… I’m _less_ than Human…”

“No,” he says. “You’re more. You’re Human, and then something else, extra.”  


***

The next time Hux shifts, he does so when Kylo is in the next room. He pretends he’s going to the ‘fresher, but instead he whirls around the russet cloak and drops to all fours.

Colours become less distinguishable, but more vibrant. He can _smell_ everything in what feels like an infinite radius, and every little sound is magnified. 

When he’d shifted with his mother, he’d only run. And whilst running was good to get the worst of the edge off, it was… it was an act of pure, brute physicality and not delicate, dainty precision. A heavy-handed assault on his senses to tire this part of him out as rapidly as possible.

Ears pricked ready to respond if Kylo moves, he slowly eases into this body. It is _him_ just as much as the other, but he’s always been shy of feeling it. Always tried to shun it, or deny it space in his heart and mind.

Not any more. He’s resolved to change things.

Twitch go the ears. His nose wrinkles, and he brushes his muzzle near the edge of the bed to see how his whiskers feel when he does. His long tongue runs over his teeth from inside, and he nips down just to feel how sharp they are. Paws that knead at the ground, and he stretches himself out from nose to tail. 

Tail. Yes. His paws work harder at the ground as he lets the thick brush sway, getting used to the heavy, extra sense of self behind his ass. It’s unusual, and also helpful for balance. 

Out of curiosity, he licks over the back of one paw, and then his head and ears swivel towards the man moving into the doorway.

“Does it feel okay?” Kylo asks.  


Hux can’t talk, so he nods, just once. He waddles his weight from paw to paw, feeling for his range of motion. Strange, but good. When he’s satisfied, he walks past Kylo and leaps onto the couch.

A moment for him to assess, and then Kylo drops onto the couch and leaves his lap open. 

Hux walks over, and shuffles himself into position. They’ve cuddled before, but he’s never been trying to be aware of - and present in - his body at the time. Hux lets out a light chirr, then pushes his head into the hand to ask for more touches. 

Kylo has big and warm hands, and they threaten to pull his very fur from his frame, but not in an unpleasant way. Each stroke and touch makes warmth seep out, and has his eyes slitting in delight. Down to his tail, and tugging at it. The sensuous nature is delicious, and he ends up - after a moment of self-doubt - rolling over onto his back and presenting his sensitive belly.

This is then rewarded with belly rubs, which - okay - maybe should feel demeaning? Except Kylo would rub his belly as a Human, too. His tongue lolls out from behind his sharp, white teeth, and when the fussing moves to his throat, his tail starts a thorough wagging. 

It isn’t unpleasant. It’s just different, being like this. Everything feels so effusive and expansive that he worries he will lose his focus, or his control. There’s a sudden hunger in his belly, and he feels it rumble under the touches.

He… he never eats like this. He makes sure he’s always as full as won’t make him ill before he shifts in case instinct makes him mouse, or worse. Hux doesn’t know if his fox-self knows how to hunt, but it’s something he has never risked. Now there’s fear, and his ears flatten. This isn’t - it isn’t - _him_ , is it? This thing? This amber-fluffed thing?

“What’s safe for you to eat?” Kylo asks, effortlessly scooping him up.  


Hux nearly shrieks, and then realises he’s been dropped to perch on Kylo’s shoulder. Tail around his neck, paws hanging down, and… it’s kind of nice? He rubs against his face (feeling the urge to make Kylo smell of him) and points out with a little huff that he has no clue and also can’t talk.

So Kylo takes him to the fridge unit. It’s only small, because most of the meals are organised through catering. It’s there as a luxury owed to his rank, and when Kylo opens the door, the smells assault him like a wave of X-Wings. Hux scrabbles, leaning in to sniff at the chilled meats and cheeses, though he has an inexplicable craving for eggs. A nose in the general direction of the cured meats gets him a slice or two, and the explosion of taste nearly makes him fall from his perch. 

“You like those, huh?” Kylo asks, happy and amused.   


More nodding, and another rub. This time on his shoulder, scent-marking him as _owned_. As _family_. He eats until Kylo thinks he’s had enough, and then Hux licks a stripe over the side of Kylo’s face. He tenses, alerting him, and then springs from his shoulder and lands with a flurry, pulling off the skin. 

“You liked that?” Kylo asks, again.

“It… wasn’t terrible,” Hux admits. It was actually relatively pleasant. Hux wonders if he should shift more often than the bare minimum, maybe. Even just for half an hour every now and again. He feels refreshed and invigorated, and he’s also buck naked. Not a real problem, with Kylo. 

“You can always shift around me,” Kylo offers. 

Hux smirks. “I intend to.” 


	4. Chapter 4

Sometimes, Hux finds it’s pleasant to spend an evening shifted. He likes being touched in both forms, but it’s in different ways. When he’s quadrupedal, the firm strokes and tickly fingers are bolder, brighter. Plus, he can completely curl up on Kylo’s lap and chirr in his throat at the strokes, leaching warmth and affection. 

If he’s having difficulty working through a management problem, and his focus is slipping, he comes back here and dons the fur. With his focus sharpened, and the different mindset of his fox-form, either the problem is rectified, or the break gives him some freedom before tackling it again. 

Hux is pawing at the floor, arching his back, when Kylo comes in. He’s just solved the problem of the fuel depots, and he’s feeling pretty damn good about himself. He leaps right up in the air and pounces on Kylo’s boot, then starts to lace in and between his legs for the sheer fun of it. Around and around, and Kylo laughs and lets him.

“In a good mood, are we?”  


Hux shoves his head into a hand, and then continues his figure-eights between Kylo’s legs. 

He’s restless, but not in a bad way. In a _want to bounce_ way. He’s shifted well before the energy builds up unpleasantly, and it’s sending a low-level tingle through him, like happy nerves in his gut. 

“Well… I bought you a gift. You’re not allowed to piss on me if you don’t like it.”  


Hux hardly pisses on things. He doesn’t even piss in this form unless he’s out in the wilderness, and it’s really not fair to call his scent-marking anything but what it is. But Kylo does have a penchant for being over-dramatic when Hux can’t backchat.

Kylo goes over to the sock drawer he commandeered (and Hux let him) pulling out a small rodenty plushie with button eyes and a fluffy tail like Hux’s, which hangs from a string attached to a long wand.

Really, Ren? A Loth-cat toy?

Kylo wriggles it, and something sparks inside of Hux. He’s not sure what, but suddenly he’s leaping into the air and bringing his front paws down on it. His muzzle pushes between his paws, his jaws snapping over air as Kylo yanks it free.

Frustrated, he leaps again, but it’s moved before he lands. The toy is bounced all over, chewed and a little slobbered, but still holding its shape well. Hux can’t help but wag his tail excitedly at the prey-hunting instincts this is provoking in him. His paws skitter with every land, and then he snaps his head quickly, wrestling the toy from Ren’s grasp.

“Hey!”  


Hux bites down hard, and runs to the edges of the room. The wand smacks into his side as he careens around, running at as close to full-tilt as the walls will allow.

Laughing, Kylo chases after him, not using the Force to cheat. Hux keeps going until his lungs are burning, and then he lies on top of the wand and string, and closes his jaws around the little bundle. His sharp teeth prick at the soft material, and he gnaws with pleasure as his tail sweeps the floor clean. It’s not the taste so much as the texture, and the stimulus of his gums and tongue having something to work over.

Kylo, meanwhile, seems just as happy. He drops to a crouch beside him, and Hux growls very tiny little noises of guarding over his toy under his belly. He allows the stroking, and then he lifts from it and puts his paws on Kylo’s shoulders. A flat tongue swipes very gentle licks to his cheeks, letting him know he’s happy. The arms that wrap around him to hug him are comforting, and he finds himself picked up. 

Hux lies on his back in those arms, tail still windmilling, and lifts his head for scritches under his jaw. Maybe it’s a bit undignified to play with things, but damnit, it was fun. He wriggles when they get to the bed, and Kylo just sits with his head propped up on pillows. Hux darts about when he’s released, but only for a moment before he shoves his muzzle under an arm, and slicks his tongue over Kylo’s ear. He nestles in alongside him, enjoying just… the closeness.

He’d never played this much, even as a child. His mother had given him what freedoms she could, but he’d had to… he’d had to just grow up fast. He sees from the generous joy on Kylo’s face that it’s something important to him, too.

Hux slips backwards out of Kylo’s arms, and lands on the floor. He grabs the toy by the wand, and leaps back up. Head cocked, he holds the toy and waits to see if Kylo still wants to play? 

His Knight takes the want with a gracious thanks, and bobs the plushie end just out of reach of paws and mouth, coming ever lower to be yanked away. Hux lies on his back and swats when it gets close enough, listening to Kylo giggle. His lips curl in an elongated smile, and when the toy finally goes away, Hux puts his head on Kylo’s belly and licks at his hand. The taste is salty, and he knows Kylo’s happy because the headscritches get more intense. It makes them both happy, so… where’s the harm in that?

He absolutely will never, ever admit to this when he’s Human, though.


	5. Chapter 5

Hux doesn’t know why the Leader wants to see him alone. He glances at Kylo, who hasn’t got a summons. They almost always report together, now. He tries to think positive thoughts; it’s probably just officer-things. Non-Force related activities. It’s… something.

He sees the cloud of unease settle over Kylo’s head, and he tries to fake-smile through it. “I’m sure it’s fine.”

“Of course,” Kylo lies.  


Hux takes a deep breath and smartens his uniform. He has to look pristine, of course.

***

The minute he enters the audience chamber, he senses the Leader’s displeasure. He doesn’t need the Force, because it hits him like a tsunami, washed at his face with each blink, each breath, from so many lightyears away.

“General Hux.”  


“Supreme Leader.” His voice only wavers very slightly.   


“You know why I have called you here.”  


No, he doesn’t, but his ignorance might be a weakness. He opts, instead, for silence. Opts to let the man say it for himself.

“Your work has been inadequate of late.”  


He pulls his lips thin. _Inadequate_. He’d blown up five planets. Five times the Empire’s success rate. He could hardly be held responsible for the other thing, the… loss. (Oh, says a little voice, but you are. You’re the Commander. You’re _responsible_  and that means you’re _responsible_.)

“I apologise, Supreme Leader, but I–”  


A hand waves, and Hux finds his mouth closed shut against his will.

“It seems your father was wrong, you _are not_ his son. I had overlooked your… deficiencies, as you had some promise, but it seems you have the flightiness of your mother’s kind.”  


Shit. Fuck. Damn. So Snoke knows he is… not entirely Human. Hux wills his face not to go as red as his fur would, and bites so hard on the insides of his cheeks that he’s sure he’s drawn blood. He still can’t talk, but he can _glare_.

“It doesn’t matter. I have removed the temptation from your reach. You will take this opportunity to redouble your efforts, and assure me of your loyalty. If you do not, then you will be of no further use to me. Do you understand?”  


Hux can’t speak, but he can nod. Once. 

“See to it you never cause me to reprimand you again, for it will be the last time.”   


The man’s holo vanishes, and Hux… runs. He runs as fast as he can, back to his quarters.

***

It’s not there. It’s not in the footlocker. It’s not there. He stares at the empty space where his fur should be, and then he turns. His hands pull everything apart.

Sheets from bed. Bed from mattress. Clothes from wardrobe. Desk from floor. Chair from floor. Everything is ripped from its home, and thrown to the other side of the room.

It’s not here.

Hux slams his hand across the vanity shelf, skittering the bottles and lotions and spilling the soaps over the slick floor. He rips the shower curtain down in voiceless rage, and pulls his uniform off to throw it down, too.

Naked, naked and he has no fur. His hands go into his hair, and he _pulls and pulls and pulls_ , dragging clumps of red out that won’t change him like he needs to. He drops to his knees, to his hands and his knees, and he tries to think _ears. Tail._ Tries to remember how they feel, because he _needs them_ , he _needs them like air_ , but no matter how hard he imagines his other body, he can’t reach it.

When Kylo enters, Hux doesn’t even question how he knows to run here so fast. He bleats out an apology for the mess he’s made, and then shunts his head into Kylo’s open chest, craving the fingers through his fur, behind his ears. He feels safer when he’s shifted, feels less tense, and he longs for that sensation right now. He hadn’t needed it this morning, but now he knows he _can’t_ , again, it’s all he can think about.

Kylo’s glove comes off, and there’s stroking over his hair, behind his ears. Almost how he would when he’s shifted. Hux shoves himself harder into him, grabbing at his waist, demanding all the comfort he can get.

“He’s taken it,” he whispers.   


“Snoke?”  


Hux nods, and the tears start to fall. He can’t help himself, and he feels the arms around him, though they’re almost of no use at all. 

***

It’s much later when he feels able to lift his head at last. Kylo’s scooped him onto the bed, and he feels sheepish about the panic, the damage, the… childish distress. His face is wet, and he looks up. 

“I’m sorry.”  


“I understand more than you think,” Kylo says, wryly. “You always said I was too emotional.”  


“You didn’t trash the room.”  


“No, but I smashed up enough of the ship, remember?”  


Hux does remember. He pushes his face into Kylo’s neck, and shivers. “What if I never get it back?”

“…you… lived without it, right?”  


“Before I knew it existed. But since I knew…” It’s been so nice, being able to be the other-him. Seeing things from lower down. Sharper. Keener. Brighter. Simpler. More… _vital_. He wonders if it’s how the Force is, to Kylo.   


“Can we find your mother, and ask her?”  


“I don’t know how,” Hux admits.   


“She was on the planet. Do you think she escaped?”  


Hux has no clue. She hasn’t approached him again, but there’s not been the same… “I know,” he says. “We recreate the situation. I mean… we stay in the same place long enough. Then she’ll know how to find me, if she’s still alive.”

“Cunning fox,” Kylo says, and kisses his hair.  


***

He finds the first planet that’s suitable to be the new Starkiller, and settles. He doesn’t care if he’d be better on the ship, he moves into the small habitation unit the minute he can. It’s all to ‘make sure it’s done right’, and the Leader leaves him alone.

At night, he sits at the edge of the woods, with Kylo. 

Nothing.

For months.

“Is it me?” Kylo asks. “Is she afraid of me?”  


“I don’t think so. Maybe she’s not…”  


A sound he recognises, somehow. Ancestral memory, or instinct. A press of paw to ground, and his head whips towards it, finding green eyes watching them.

“Mother,” Hux breathes. “It’s alright. He’s with me.”  


Seeing her like this, when he can’t shift, is an agony. His skin burns with discomfort, and his hands long for the mud and snow.

Her head cocks, her ears pricked.

“I can’t shift. I need to talk to you,” he explains.  


Hux turns when Kylo moves, and sees the man remove his outer cloak and turn his back, holding them out for the woman, for modesty’s sake. Of course, he thinks, and turns away, too.

A moment later and a woman with as much grey as red in her hair stands before them. She’s willowy-thin, her hands long and bony, her face lined with age. 

“What happened?”  


“The Leader took my skin,” Hux says. “Can… can I shift without it?”  


She shakes her head, slowly. “I’ve never heard it.”

“So… I’m stuck?”  


“Unless he burns it.”  


“And then what?” Hux does not really want to know, but he needs to.  


“Then he kills you,” his mother tells him. “I’m sorry.”  


Kills him. Snoke has the power over his very life, not just his comfort. He drops back onto the stone he’d been sitting on, floored by the knowledge.

“You have to get it back,” she says, and her voice sounds oddly like she hasn’t used it in the longest time.   


Hux wonders how often she’s even Human, these days. 

“We’re working on it,” Kylo replies. “But we hoped… you might help us?”  


“How?” She looks between them. “I’m an old vixen, now. The woods are my home. It was made very clear to me that was where I belonged. I… wanted to keep you, but I wanted to keep you _safe_.”  


“So you left me with him? Knowing he would hate me?”  


“How could he hate you?” She lifts a hand to touch his cheek, but Hux cringes back. “You are his son.”  


“Fathers hate their sons more often than you would think,” Kylo mutters.  


***

Kylo leaves them, after a while. Leaves them to talk. Hux asks his mother of her life before, her life with Brendol Hux. Asks her if she ever meant to tell him, or if she always meant to lie?

Asks if staying one way too long is a problem? If it ruins his mind, or body?

Asks if he will see her again, if she stays? 

Asks… so many things. Some answers he gets, and others he does not. He holds her hand, and offers her a place to stay.

“I have one,” she insists, and turns her head to the woods.  


“But if it blows, again?”  


“I will escape, or I will not. But I will be in the woods until there are no woods left.”  


It is her choice, and he embraces her for the first time. It is bitter, and it is sweet, and it is hard to watch her run away.

Harder still to go back ‘home’.

***

“I will get it for you.”  


“You don’t have to,” Hux replies.  


“I do. You need it, and I need you. I won’t let him control you.”  


Hux smiles, and kisses at his jaw. “You’re too good to me.”

“No: everyone else is not as good as you deserve.”  


Hux feels the call of the earth in his blood, that night, but he surges the need into love, instead. He pushes his tongue into salt-valleys, and finds forests in dark-canopied hair. Runs his fingers through the curls as if through grass, and arches his spine to the touches along the curve.

Kylo opens him slowly, and he welcomes the gentle touch. Fingers in his hole, and he does his best to forget his missing tail, his ears, as he lowers his body onto his lover’s offering. On all fours above him, and he lives for the tug at his hair, the meeting of their laps. He rides Kylo’s cock until it spends in him, and a little of the need dies down.

Not all, but enough to sleep. 

***

Hux does not like to be so helpless. He does not like to be so out of control. He’s always tried to be self-sufficient, but he can’t risk his fur being burned, and him along with it. 

It is difficult to let Kylo save him. So very, very difficult. He wants to save himself, but he simply cannot do it. 

He wonders how he’ll find out, and he runs through the facility, desperate for the distraction.

***

The comm-link calls, and his heart won’t still. His hand wobbles over the button, and there’s Kylo’s triumphant face.

A hand around the base of his brush, the skin wobbling in front of the holo.

“I got it. You’re free, Hux. You’re free.”  


He nearly cries from glee.

***

“Do you want a night with your mother?” Kylo asks, as Hux sits stroking the empty pelt.   


“…would you be offended if I did?”  


“If you come home to me, after, why would I be?”  


What did he do to deserve him? Hux loves to run with Kylo, but Kylo can’t run in the same way. He does miss his mother, and he feels… better knowing more of her life and her choices. 

“I always come home to you.”  


“Then run.”  


***

Wind. Smell. Sound. Cold. Thud. Everything so close to the surface, everything so deep inside. He throws back his head and lets out a yip of delight as he pounces at sounds and chases down shadows.

His mother shows him the best places, and he lowers his head to drink the cool water.

She walks closer, and licks at his ear. The touch makes him melt, and he pushes his cheek to her jowl, batting his tail against hers. 

He understands, now. Understands why she left. A man who could destroy her, or take her paws from under her legs. A life in the woods, or a life of both. He has both. He’s happy. He licks her face, and runs back home.

***

Kylo is waiting, and Hux weaves between his legs in greeting, his brush swishing in happiness. 

“You smell of the trees,” Kylo laughs. “I’m cleaning you, before bed.”  


Hux thinks, then nods. 

He’s surprised to feel a large hand on the nape of his neck, and maybe he should fight? Or be afraid? But he isn’t. He hangs, feeling safe, and cared for. The tail swishes his whole body, and he waits to be put into the tub. 

That’s when he pounces Kylo’s hand, and holds it down to lick it gratefully. Lick all over, until there’s warm water being sprinkled all over his fur. He chirrs in pleasure, and waits until he’s completely clean before he shrugs out of his pelt, and rises to his feet.

“Bed?” Kylo asks.  


“Please,” Hux agrees.   


He picks up his wet fur, and hangs it over a chair in front of the heater, in full view. They’re the only two here, but it doesn’t matter.

He’s proud of it, at last. 

His lover’s arms are open, and he has a a world of gratitude to show him. 

And he is a _very_ cunning fox, after all.


	6. Chapter 6

Hux lies snuggled against Kylo’s side, his furskin draped on top of the covers. After a very satisfying run with the Knight, he’d shaken it off and curled up in bed with him, but not moved the skin away like he normally would. 

Kylo’s fingers stroke the silky fronds, his expression contemplative. 

“I’m guessing it wouldn’t work on me.”  


“Would you even want it to?” Hux asks, avoiding his eyes.  


“To experience what you do? Yes. I’m curious, Hux. Wouldn’t you be?”  


“You forget… you might have been brought up in the stew of galactic nonsense, but I was brought up thinking Humans were the only real species.”  


“Hux…”  


“No, don’t. Don’t try to - I know you don’t feel the same way, but–”  


Kylo puts his hand over Hux’s mouth, and Hux has to resist the urge to lick it. 

“Hux, Humans are no better than anyone else. You have bad Humans, and good Humans. But you have bad and good everything else. I know you might find it difficult to accept, but it’s true.”  


Hux can’t reply, so he lifts his eyebrows.

“I’d love to see things like you do. You have a complete different outlook on the world to me, now. I guess it’s like if I didn’t have the Force, I’d want to feel that, too.”  


Okay, that’s an analogy he can get behind. Hux nods, and Kylo lets his hand fall. 

“My mother said it ran through her bloodlines, but not much else. I was more asking about how to survive and conceal it, than… how to… where I came from…”   


“Would you like to? Learn about where you come from?”  


“I’m an abomination!” Hux still can’t shake that, even if he has accepted Kylo doesn’t think it.  


“You’re smart, and gorgeous, and funny, and an incredible leader and strategist. Hux, you are _amazing_.”  


“I also turn into a four-legged monster and pounce on small, feathered objects.”  


“I think that’s cute. And you’re selling yourself short.”  


“Well… I’m sorry. I don’t know how to suddenly unlearn everything I was ever taught.”  


Kylo’s hand pauses by the tail. “Would you… have learned to love me, if I was the shifter instead?”

Hux swallows, his throat suddenly very tight. “I don’t know.”

“Right.”   


It was the wrong thing to say, but it was the truth. Hux doesn’t know how else to answer, because lying is just as bad as a truth no one wants to hear. “I’m sorry, Kylo. If you’re disgusted with me… I’d understand.”

“It’s not disgust, Hux. It was never that.”  


***

The next night, Hux feels the urge to run, but he tells Kylo he wants to go alone. He pulls his fur on and heads out into the cold and dark, looking for his mother. 

No matter where he tracks her scent, she isn’t at the end of the path. It’s cold, and growing colder.

Hux drops his head at a stream, slaking his thirst in the cold water. It almost burns as he laps, and then he tucks his legs below him, and pulls his tail in tight. 

Would he have loved Kylo? If he’d known him first, and found this out later? Would he have broken things off, or would he have just written it off as another flaw? 

He leans forward, looking at his reflection. He’s never really examined himself like this, and the water distorts the image, but it’s enough to see the sleek lines, toned muscle, neat fur. He’s not Human, and he can’t talk, but he’s still got his mind. It’s a little twisted, perhaps, but it’s still him. He can control when he shifts, and he can take joy in it, so…

A resolute flick of his tail, and he runs back home.

***

When he gets back to their rooms, he’s surprised to see his mother in her Human form, sitting with Kylo. His ears prick, his whiskers vibrating in alarm.

“It’s alright,” his mother tells him. “Your partner wanted to know more about us. If you’d like to join us, you’re welcome to.”  


Hux nods, then pads out of the room. His mother might have seen him shift plenty, but it feels wrong for both of them to see it at once. 

He hangs up his fur, and pulls on simple sweatpants and a comfortable t-shirt, walking back in with his feet pushed into slippers. 

There’s only room to sit beside someone, so he hesitates for a moment before sitting next to Kylo, but not quite making contact yet. He’s still a little pissed about this, though he’ll give the man the benefit of the doubt.

“I was telling your partner that we don’t know where our kind came from. The Empire didn’t like the idea that anyone could be different, without them knowing.”  


“We don’t show as different in any other way?”  


“No. There’s no known test to prove our lineage. We appear to be Human, until we shift.”  


“But the skins only work on us?”  


She nods. “It’s passed down through our family line. The skins we take from the animals we want to turn into. It’s traditional to find one that’s close to death, or died of natural causes, and remove the skin for the young child. Some families use the same furs passed down through the line, and some choose a new one for each new child.”

“So I didn’t have to be a fox?”  


“No. If you wanted to be something else, it’s possible you could, but it would be harder for you to begin with. The fox is our traditional form, but there have been some families that prefer to change into bigger, stronger creatures, or smaller ones. There’s even been some who can turn into birds, but I never met one.”  


Hux wonders how that even works? It seems so surreal, and yet he knows it’s true. He wonders how she found the fur. It looks in good condition, but there could be some weird Force-or-magic thing keeping it like that. 

“Why foxes?” Kylo asks. “You said it was traditional, but not essential?”  


“Our history is all oral, now. Any records we had were purged, and so all I can tell you is what my own mother taught me. The legend was that once - many, many years ago - there was a young woman. She was married by force to an unkind man, and she went into the woods at night, and wept beneath the moon because she didn’t want her husband to hurt her children. Her belly was full, and the more it kicked her, the more he kicked her, too.”  


Hux wonders how much of this even could be true, but who is he to truly understand something as utterly baffling as _changing your entire body_?

“The woman’s tears were heard, and a young vixen came close. Foxes are tricky, and she offered the wife a solution. They would swap their children, and her kits would bite the husband and he would leave, and she would raise the twins as her own. The woman said the husband would know, but the vixen said she would wrap the Humans in foxfur, and the kits would look Human when wrapped in the blanket. The only payment she demanded was their children remained swapped like this, but she promised to look after them as much as she would love her own.”  


“…so are we the Humans dressed like foxes, or the foxes dressed like Humans?” Hux asks, confused.  


“We don’t know,” his mother replies, her eyes twinkling. “But the ruse worked. The kits bit the husband, and he ran from the home and never came back. The woman raised the kits as her own, and from then on, we’ve taken a fur to wrap ourselves up.”  


It’s preposterous, but… he can see how it would be used to explain things. Being able to shift into an animal _does_ make escaping from things easier, and the thought of this being based (much like his own life) on an abusive husband… it’s pleasingly circular. 

“Maybe the fox was actually already a shifter,” Hux says. “Maybe she gave shifter children to the woman.”  


“That’s possible,” his mother agrees. “In which case, we have no idea where we come from. But does it really matter? Does anyone know where we come from?”  


Hux thinks for a moment, then shuffles closer to Kylo. “Thank you for coming to talk to us. I know I haven’t been… the most welcoming.”

“Your father made it hard for you to love who you are,” Kylo reminds him. “But we’re here to help you through that.”  


“I think… I think one day, maybe I’d like to try flying. But otherwise, I’m happy being a fox. Especially if we’re here to trick people out of violence.”  


His mother smiles, and nods her head. “I never managed to change into anything else, but I never really wanted it enough. I was happy as I was. I… do wish sometimes that I’d seen what kind of man your father was first, but then I’d never have had you. I missed you, every day. I’m sorry I left you behind.”

Hux swallows, and pushes himself harder into Kylo. It’s difficult, and he nods. “I don’t blame you. I’m… I’m okay now.”

“I’ll leave you two in peace,” she says, and rises. “But for what it’s worth… this one? You wouldn’t need to hide your kits.”  


Hux winds his fingers into Kylo’s shirt, shuddering. It’s true. This man would protect him - and any children - with his life. He knows that, and how could he ever have doubted he’d be able to love him if he was the shifter? Of course he would. He’s _Kylo_. 

Once she’s gone, he moves to straddle his lap, arms around his shoulders. “I’m sorry about what I said before.”

“It’s okay, Hux. I understand why this isn’t easy for you. I don’t understand the logic behind your thoughts, but I understand how they must make you _feel_.”  


Kylo’s hands rest on his waist, and Hux feels… loved. Safe. Secure. The distant call to _run_ is subdued into one that says _nest_. He smiles, and watches as Kylo’s lips echo his own happiness. “Whatever I am - whyever I am - I’ve got you. And my mother was right: you would make a good husband and father. If you ever wanted that.”

“Hux… you know, people normally ask that question _slightly_ more romantically?”  


“I wasn’t asking it, I was… asking about asking it,” he says, brushing it off with a shrug to hide his worry.  


“Well, if you ever did feel like asking, I would very much be happy to tell you yes. To both things.”  


“I see. Well. I’m sure if I ever feel romantically inclined enough…”  


“Hux, just… say it?”  


 _Run_. Just for a moment, bright and sharp in his mind. Then he locks eyes with Kylo, and it goes. _Stay_. 

“Kylo… if you would ever do me the honour… I would… I…”  


“Yes,” Kylo says, and surges up to kiss him, taking the embarrassment onto his tongue and lips instead.  


Thank the stars. Hux kisses him back, and he doesn’t think about the moon and the woods for the rest of the night. 


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A little birthday gift for a lovely friend <3

Hux is feeling playful, for once. He’s not sure why, he just woke up with mischief in his heart, and slipped from the bed before Kylo could wake. 

He never used to shift for any reason other than pure need, but as he tugs his fox-skin fur and throws it over his shoulders, he realises it doesn’t _have_ to be for a ‘reason’. 

The shift ripples down his spine like fingers stroking him hard, and he flicks out a tail that all of a sudden is _part_ of him. It feels good, and he pushes his brush out with the fur all ruffled, and his front paws land with a shock to his whole skeleton, reassuring him of where _he_ ends, now.

He’s smaller, in this form. He takes up less space, and he has different things: no fingers, no thumbs... but whiskers, ears that prick, a muzzle full of sharp teeth and the tail that swishes behind him. His claws click on the floor, and he quickly takes a moment to groom his fur where he can reach his tongue...

...and then sneaks back into the bedroom.

Kylo, as ever, has taken up most of the bed. His over-long body often slides down in the night, his feet overhanging the edge. The sheets drape over them, but Hux closes his jaws around the edge of the fabric and walks sideways, baring the toes.

Perfect. 

He pushes a cold nose to one big toe, and then lets his tongue slide out. Maybe it’s a little gross to taste his feet like this, but Hux has had most parts of Kylo in his mouth at some point or another. He laps ticklingly, and when the feet move, he sinks down onto his haunches. 

Down, down, and UP he springs, landing on Kylo’s calves, pinning them to the bed. His tail flicks up playfully, his mouth opening in a vulpine grin.

Which is when Kylo stares at him, finally working out what’s going on.

“Hux?”  


Hux makes a little noise in his throat, and wriggles some more. He’s feeling devilish, and he wants to play. It’s just - it’s like there’s so much energy _in_ him and he needs to get it out. When Kylo doesn’t understand, he yips and pounces for his hand, closing his teeth around his thumb, not biting hard enough to puncture the skin.

Kylo laughs, and then they’re chasing around the bed, with Kylo much slower, but bigger. He keeps trying to grapple Hux, who squirms out of his arms and pounces onto his head, or his leg, or his hand. It feels wonderfully silly, and his heart is pounding much faster than usual. Hux keeps it up until there’s a big hand sinking into his scruff, and he yips in frustration as he’s picked up.

Hanging from the hand, kicking his legs out, he offers the fox equivalent of a sniff. And then Kylo lies back, and Hux goes _whuuff_ down onto his chest, pushing his muzzle under Kylo’s chin. He licks him once, and then the fingers that knead over his shoulders and back, pulling his fur down the right way, make him melt in delight. 

Ah yes. Trust his Knight to know how to make him putty in his hands. He closes his eyes blissfully, and laps slowly at the side of his neck. 

It isn’t so bad being a fox, not when you have a Kylo.


End file.
